SOCIAL TRENDS Journal of the Department of Sociology of North Bengal University Vol. 7, 31 March 2020; ISSN: 23486538 Peerreviewed National Journal UGCCARE listed 1 Development of a Dalit Self: Vasant Moon and the Aura of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Saswati Biswas Abstract: The development of self and a sociological approach to the study of selfidentity are informed by mutual relationship between self and the society. The former impacts the society through individual actions reflected in the working of groups, organizations and institutions. Society on the other hand influences the individual through shared meanings and values which enables one to participate in social action and reflect upon oneself as the other. In the case of India where the Hindu society considers a group of people as avarnas also referred to as dalits or untouchables there is a great deal of complexity and layering in the interaction between self and society. The selves of the dalits evolve in constant interaction with the wider society through the complexities which till today are characterized by a great degree of exploitation and humiliation exercised by the upper castes. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the life of Vasant Moon which shows how a dalit person overcame the obstacles of life and evolved as a worthy member of his community under the influence of B.R Ambedkar who inspired and moulded the lives of innumerable dalits of a whole generation. Keywords: Dalits, Ambedkar, Buddhism, Self, literature, exploitation. Introduction The discipline of Sociology as it evolved in India is increasingly coming under the scanner for its near total disregard for the existence of a community of people within or periphery of the caste system that is the dalits who have always lived in the bottom or outside the caste hierarchy, were considered as untouchables and were at the receiving end of intense humiliation and extreme deprivation and exploitation. It is only recently that we find that scholars like T. K. Oomen, Vivek Kumar, Paramjit S. Judge, 2 Saswati Biswas Ghanshyam Shah and a few others trying to incorporate them and making knowledge creation about them a part of sociological endeavour. We read of Indian tradition of community social life and a sense of regret that this community life is breaking down with the emergence of atomized selfseeking individuals even in the writings of the pioneers of Indian Sociology. The fact that there was another side of this community life which looked down upon a section of society as less than humans and which got religious sanction to denigrate , humiliate and exploit them has not been noticed by the scholars who in the name of value free sociology have contributed to the pattern maintenance where the higher castes have continued with their privileges keeping large sections of society at the mercy of the higher castes. However, for a long period of time starting from the medieval period individuals have come up who protested against the systemic violence and exploitation by the upper castes by overcoming many obstacles and put some hope in the lives of the others who considered them as leaders. In this paper an attempt has been made to understand how under the leadership of B.R Ambedkar a dalit selfevolved in the first half of the last century when provided with the proper sociopolitical environment and a role model towards whom he could look up for guidance and leadership. This has been attempted by taking up the life story of Vasant Moon which he narrates in his book, Growing Up Untouchable in India: A Dalit Autobiography, originally Vasti in Marathi but translated into English by one of the very wellknown sociologists, Gail Omvedt. The introduction to the book was written by EieanorZeliott, a wellknown scholar on Dalits, who was a friend of Moon and was helped by him in her research on the dalits of India. This narration of Mr. Moon is an example of autoethnography giving us an idea of his own life experiences which could be extended to the generalized other. What were the life experiences of the Dalits? How were they treated by the higher castes? how the conditions in which they were forced to live contributed to the inculcation of values in their lives all come out clearly in this autobiography. However what is most significant is not the deprivations and humiliations which the dalits have been forced to undergo since times immemorial, but how under the leadership of B.R Ambedkar the same people who were driven to the margins recognized their selfworth, fought for their rights and rose up against the tyranny of Brahminism. It also shows the characterbuilding nature of movementbased politics as against the current politics of electoral gains. Development of a Dalit Self: Vasant Moon... Dr. B. R. Ambedkar 3 The spread of literacy among the Mahars added to their determination to rise against the injustices and ultimately paved the way for their making a mark in the history of the period. There is a lot in the story of Moon’s life, it is a story of his Vasti, his growing up under different types of privations but struggling intensely with himself and evolving as an intellectual and activist under the leadership of Ambedkar and the other leaders who evolved as Ambedkar’s coworkers. Development of the self in current sociological literature reflects upon the emphasis on power, reflexivity and social constructionism. The power relations and the place which one occupies in the realm of power whether as having power in whatever form political, social, cultural or economic which may also be termed as different types of capital plays a very important role in the development of a self. Thus, it has become common in reviews of the sociological self to argue that the self is both a social product as well as a social force. In the first instance the self is examined as a bounded structured object Mead’s ‘me’ whereas in the second instance the self is examined as a fluid agentic and creative response, Mead’s ‘I’. The distinction captures the core principle of a socially constructed self namely that the self is a joint accomplishment, neither completely a production of society nor an individual agency. However, the I and Me are interrelated in such a way that the agency to be exercised is very often determined by one’s position in society. When a person’s selfestimation evolves in interaction with others it is difficult for a person to evolve a self which is capable of exercising agency when he/she gets a feedback of being addressed as an inferior and made a subject of humiliation. On the other hand, a person treated with respect and acceptance evolves with greater selfesteem, a greater feeling of security and a greater ability to exercise agency. Hence when we study the life of Vasant Moon who belonged to the former category we understand what intense struggles he went through suffering poverty and humiliation and what great a role was played by B.R Ambedkar in nurturing Moon’s ability to exercise agency and stand up against injustices and fight for the rights of the dalits. In this paper it is intended to focus upon the influence of Ambedkar on Moon’s life and hence some other facets of importance in his life mentioned in the book has been kept out of purview. In this first autobiography of a so called ‘untouchable’, we learn about the inescapable hierarchy imposed by caste based on ancient principles of hereditary pollution. We see the unmatched importance of the heroic Dr. B. R. Ambedkar for india’s awakened dalits who were increasingly realizing the injustices which were 4 Saswati Biswas mated out to them for ages and rising up to demand a place of equality in Indian society. Moon grew up in a vasti and its social identity as a community space was much more important to him than its geographical location. He had an abusive father who was also a drunkard, his mother had left his father with Moon and his sister when Moon was only four years old. They stayed with his grandfather in the vasti but fell into very difficult times after his grandfather died. First encounters with Ambedkar’s ideas The first influence of Ambedkar is found in relation to the worshipping of a goddess, there was a temple of Matamai and the goddess was worshipped when there was an outbreak of epidemics like cholera, diarrhea and small pox. After 1930 the wave of Ambedkar reached Maharpura as the area was then known as and the worshipping of Matamai stopped and people understood that the goddess could not really cure the diseases. Another thing that happened was seen in the realm of intercaste relations. Presence of subcastes and even disagreements among them on norms of purity and pollution existed but these came to an end with the struggle of Ambedkar who always made his followers conscious about not practisingbrahmanism with other dalitcastes The space which he refers to as vasti gives us a picture of Moon’s childhood neighbourhood where in the midst of dire poverty members lived in close interdependence helping one another with whatever means they had. A neighbour would always come in with food if Moon’s mother was unable to get any food for them or if the neighbours got to know that the children were going to sleep with a hungry stomach. The book in all its pages shows the influence of Ambedkar in the self development of Moon and the awe in which Ambedkar was held.